This issue our archive images run from P for Panther to T for Triumph.
Simon Goldsworthy picks another varied selection of press images to progress our third trawl through the automotive alphabet, this issue ranging from P for Panther to T for Triumph via a couple of Rs and a trio of Ss.
PANTHER
Shy, retiring, subtle and discreet – four words that have never been used to describe the Panther De Ville. Built from 1974-1985 by Panther Westwinds of Surrey, its massive 142in wheelbase housed Jaguar running gear, including their straight- six XK or V12 engines. The doors had a less exotic parentage, being lifted from the Austin 1800! Said to have been inspired by the Bugatti Royale, the neo- classic exterior appealed to nouveau riche tastes – the flamboyant Elton John was a keen owner, so keen in fact that he used his car in a video for the song I'm Still Standing in 1983. Lancaster Insurance once calculated that for the cost of a new De Ville you could have bought 30 Lada 1200s...
RENAULT
The description on this press
photo reads: ' Renault cars and
the Russian Court.' Digging around, we think that these belonged to keen motorist, Tsar Nicholas II. One source says that he bought his first Renault, a 40 CV, in 1907, but that model wasn't introduced until 1911. Unfortunately, trawling through records from the Tsar's personal garage only turns up one Renault by 1912, and that was a truck. Can Renault fans shed more light on this?
ROVER
This image reminds us of those effects achieved by placing one mirror in front of you and another behind, the reflections then seeming to go on forever. There were no mirrors (or smoke for that matter!) used in the creation of this image though, which shows a whole host of body sides waiting to be welded to the rest of their Rover 200 shells. This was the original SD3 model built from 1984-1989, although really of course it was not original at all because it was based on the Honda Ballade, and was a successor to the Triumph Acclaim. Rover even built Honda-badged Ballades at their Longbridge factory too, though these were shipped to Honda's new factory in Swindon for final quality control checks.
STANDARD
This is a Standard Vanguard Phase 3, and the notes on the back of the press photo claim that it is from October 1955 and shows the new 1956 model. This really was a departure from what had gone before, ditching the separate chassis of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 for monocoque construction. Standard said of it:
‘ The performance of the Vanguard III makes it the ideal car for touring – a cruising speed of 70mph, maximum speed 84mph and fuel consumption 26-30mpg.’ We have to say that we rather like the new styling too!
TRIUMPH
Graham Robson says of this picture: ‘5VC on a Vitesse was a lash-up. The number had already appeared in its proper place on a TR4 on the Tulip Rally of 1962, before the Vitesse was announced. When the TR4s were delivered, they automatically became part of the company fleet. For the sake of that Vitesse newmodel launch, some lackey chose three numbers (3VC, 4VC and 5VC) at random whose plates were already sitting, unused, in a corner of his office. You’ll notice that there is no licence disc on the windscreen of the car. The girls were well- known local models, who worked for the company a lot in those days.’
SAAB
Saab was set up in 1937 to build aeroplanes for the Swedish armed forces. The expertise they developed in this field was transferred to car production when they unveiled their first offering, the streamlined Saab 92 in 1947. Here it is posed beside the Saab J21 fighter plane, itself an unusual design with a pushing propeller at the back. Aircraft production was moved to Linköping, with production examples of the 92 emerging from the Trollhättan plant in late 1949 for sales to start in 1950.
SEAT
This photo was released by SEAT in 2013 to mark the 60th anniversary of the company building its first car, the SEAT 1400 shown here. Built at their Barcelona factory from 1953 until 1963, this was essentially a rebranded Fiat 1400, although within a year of SEAT production starting, Spanish- produced content of the car had risen to an impressive 93%.